Cost Analysis of Soil Depressurization Techniques for Indoor Radon Reduction

Abstract

A parametric cost analysis was conducted to determine the importance of various system design and operating variables on t h installation and operating costs of active soil depressurization (ASD) systems for indoor radon reduction in houses. The objective was to help guide the research and development (R&D) efforts of the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce ASD costs. Annual lung canter deaths due to radon cannot be reduced by more than about 14% to 22% unless houses having pre-mitigation levels of 148 Bqlm3 and less receive radon reduction systems. Reductions in ASD costs might increase voluntary use of this technology by homeowners at those levels. The analysis showed that various modifications to ASD system designs offer potential for reducing installation costs by up to several hundred dollars1, but would not reduce total installed costs much below $800–$1000. Reductions of this magnitude would probably not be sufficient to dramatically increase voluntary use of ASD technology. Thus, some innovative, inexpensive mitigation approach other than ASD would appear to be necessary. Decreased ASD fan capacity and increased sealing might reduce ASD operation costs (for fan electricity and house heating/cooling) by roughly $7.50 per month. It is unlikely that this amount would be a deciding factor for most homeowners.